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I am a quilter living in Woodbridge, Suffolk who has made quilts since I was a teenager. I also ring bells! Both are great British traditions....I will try to feature some of my antique Welsh and Durham quilts, the quilts I make myself, my quilting activities and also some of my bellringing achievements. Plus as many photos as I can manage. NB: Double click on the photos to see greater detail, then use back button to return to the main page.













Tuesday 5 November 2013

Welsh Quilt - RBI?

Here is a Welsh quilt which I bought recently. It came originally from an auction"of high quality textiles" in Essex, so has no provenance. The designs are very nicely drawn, and also are very "standard". It does make me wonder if this is a RIB (Rural Industries Bureau) quilt. During this period, quilting designs were standardised, some would say sanitised, and then sold to buyers in London at The Little Shop. I am going to try to see if I can find illustrations of RIB quilts, possibly through the sales catalogue that was published at that time. Seen in the middle of the quilt is a coin with beech leaves, which is absolutely standard...


A view of the whole quilt ...apologies for the photo, as you know, white and gray quilts photograph very poorly...

The border is a nicely drawn church window pattern. The edges are neatly hand sewn.


The quilt is in two shades, one white, one a gentle light pink. The colours may have been brighter when new. This quilt, whilst in good condition, has been well used. The overall size is 78 x 79 inches. I took the quilt to York, and could get no definite opinion. Dorothy Osler suggested that many of the RIB quilts were made of cotton poplin. To make the quilts attractive to urban buyer, higher quality fabrics were used. However, there is a Rural Industries quilt in the current Quilt Museum exhibition that is made of sateen; Jen Jones also has a RIB quilt on display which is  made of a shiny cloth (satin or rayon?)that is not poplin. So I don't think that identifier really works. I hope to find a copy of the RIB catalogue soon....I know that there is one in the Quillters Guild archive and hope to view that at some point. I did look in the library when I was  in York, but was looking in the wrong place...this catalogue  would not be kept on the library shelves, but with the RIB quilt that seems to be depicted therein.

1 comment:

  1. A really beautiful quilt! I am looking forward to reading what you find out about it, Pippa.

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